I would like everyone to take a minute or two to reflect on these thoughts.

This site has allowed us to eliminate the miles between us,to remember the great people we have known thus,share many smiles, memories and happenings,from easier times when there were less pressurings.We have made friends,traded thoughts on trends,had some disagreements and made our amends.We all share some very common ground,mostly being alums of a great school and this site we've all found,

May the holiday season now upon us, CHRISTMAS, allow our families to find peace and solace in their lives. May we remember what it's all about and how each of us have been affected by it. May the New Year ahead allow each to find warmth and happiness, in that which we'll find before us. Across the miles, let's each share a smile. We're all from the same beginning and eventually will all find the same ending. Let's do it together. Please remember those who cannot share this holiday season with us and wish for either their safe return or their finding of eternal peace. Something I mention in times of loss. As long as they live on in our hearts, they are never really gone. To one and all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from my house to yours.

__________________Bob Johnston
Even being good for nothing, makes you good at something!

My second date with Joan, my wife now of 41+ years, back in late 1964 or early '65, was at Wollman Memorial, ice skating in Central Park. Still under 18 and therefore too young for a driver's license in NYC, we took the busses to meet in Jamaica at 169th Street, and then rode the E Train together into Manhattan. We never even bothered to look at the skaters at Rocky Center Plaza....

Another winter, we went skiing at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx (I kid you not -- they rented the equipment right there, and had a rope tow up one of the hills!). Bus & subway to and from, again.....

Times sure were simpler then... would you allow your kids to ride the subways from the Bronx or Manhattan to Queens close to midnite today?

Tuff skating or skiing now -- upper 70's today and thru the weekend! Roller blading and water skiing would be more like it, if not for brittle bones!!

Christmas Cookie Rules...1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free. 2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories. 3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, (rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking

Causes calorie leakage. 9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories

Rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate.

We all know how calories like to CLING!10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!

So, go out and enjoy those Christmas Cookies - we only get them this this time of year!

Wipe grease from pots and pans before washing. Never put hard-to-grind, stringy, fibrous waste (poultry skins, carrots, celery, pumpkin pulp or banana peels) into the garbage disposer or sink. The disposer cannot sufficiently grind these items and they will clog your sink drain.

Run the dishwasher and washing machine at night or at off times to conserve water temperature and pressure for your guests.

If the shower pressure is weak, pour a cup of vinegar into a plastic bag, place it over the showerhead, and soak. Use a twist tie to hold it in place overnight. In the morning, remove the bag and use an old toothbrush to gently scrub off the mineral deposits to help restore water flow.

Seasonal Tips for Winter

The holidays are coming, bringing together family, friends and a few plumbing emergencies. A majority of Americans take part in holiday parties with 11 or more guests around Thanksgiving and Christmas. These extra guests put a serious strain on a home's plumbing system, which results in more emergency calls to plumbers.

Big holiday meals require a busy kitchen. Too much grease and food finds its way into the kitchen drain or disposer. Holiday guests also equate to extra showers, bath and lots of extra toilet flushes. It all adds up to potential plumbing disasters.

Pipes clog because of a gradual buildup of grease, hair, soap or food particles. All it takes it one major overload, like a house full of guests, to exasperate the situation and create a clogged drain. Follow these tips to avoid a plumbing disaster.

In the kitchen:

•

Avoid pouring fats or cooking oils down the drain because liquid fats solidify in the pipes and create clogs. Wipe congealed grease from pots.

Run cold water down the drain for about 15 seconds before and after using the garbage disposer to flush waste down the main line.

•

Turn on the disposer before adding food debris.

•

Run the dishwasher and washing machine at night or at off times to conserve water temperature and pressure for your guests.

In the bathroom:

•

Plan ahead, spread out showers throughout the day; wait 10 minutes between showers rather than taking one right after another.

•

Turn up the water heater slightly to retain hot water. To avoid scalding, do not exceed 125°F.

•

If shower pressure is weak, pour a cup of vinegar into a plastic bag, place it over the showerhead, and soak. Use a twist tie to hold it in place overnight. In the morning, remove the bag and use an old toothbrush to gently scrub off the mineral deposits to help restore water flow.

•

Provide a trash bin in the bathroom so the toilet isn't used as a garbage can. Never flush cotton swabs, cotton balls, hair, facial scrub pads, diapers, sanitary products or similar items down the toilet. These items will not easily dissolve and are responsible for most clogs.

Insert Photos

Web address (URL)

Image URL

If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. Large images may take a few minutes to appear.
Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement.